Thoughts on nominating for election
06 March 2021
JACKSON KIAKARI
PORT MORESBY - It rained intermittently in Port Moresby on Thursday.
No music played, no horns blared, no rowdy exchanges. It was a sombre day.
And this was the day I entered the political arena by nominating as a candidate for the Port Moresby North-West by-election.
On this day our nation was in mourning after the passing of our beloved founding father, Grand Chief Michael Somare.
He held the torch that led the way and united Papua New Guinea’s one thousand tribes for more than 60 years.
Now the torch had gone out. His had been no ordinary journey, but he was no ordinary man.
This generation and those to come will always owe a debt of gratitude to Sir Michael and his band of visionary patriots.
They defied the odds and mastered the will to secure our political independence.
Port Moresby North-West had also recently lost a son.
Sir Mekere Morauta was a champion whose contributions transcended the electorate and left a lasting impact on the nation.
He had been a legislative craftsman of the tallest order. His legacy also will be remembered through the generations.
At such a juncture, a lot of emotion weighed on me as the nomination hour approached.
I was conscious of the burden of the monumental tasks ahead. Those proverbial shoes seemed to be growing bigger as the hour drew nearer.
I needed a reason to start and complete the journey ahead. I needed an anchor. And I had one.
In the midday rain, dressed in black to capture the national mood and followed by a handful of friends who share my dreams and hopes, I crossed the rainy Boroko street to nominate at the Electoral Office.
I had found a reason. And I held the reason tightly in one hand as well as in my heart as we crossed the street together.
I felt this was for him. He needed me to cross that street. He needed me to enter the arena.
My son, Kyle Jackson Kiakari, didn't know it yesterday, but he and his generation will need their champions. Just as our generation needed people like Sir Michael and Sir Mekere.
These great leaders crossed the boundary from private citizenship to offer a life in service to our young country.
Beyond my responsibility to feed, clothe, shelter, love and protect my family, as a candidate I know I have to expend my efforts and do all I possibly can to contribute towards a good PNG.
This is what we need now and in the future. This is what we want our sons and daughters and their sons and daughters to inherit.
They are the reason, they must be the reason, why we engage in politics.
To everyone who joins the cause, there is work to be done.
There is a country to further build, following the dreams of our fathers.
Tomorrow's generation expects nothing less of us. The best reward for doing what's right is the satisfaction that we journeyed together for a good cause.
To fellow candidates who have already nominated, I wish you well.
If your convictions and reasons are the same as mine, we are brothers and the same team.
If you get the mandate, I will have been successful.
It matters not who the people choose. It matters not who gets the mandate. If you get elected, my dreams, hopes and aspirations get the mandate through you.
It is the motive and reason that matters. This not about the individual.
To the citizens and electors of Port Moresby North-West, it matters not who you follow. It matters not where your allegiance swings. It only matters why you follow.
An election is a solemn and serious birthright. It is the process through which citizens legally delegate their democratic entitlement to participate to a representative to use on behalf of us all.
An election should be a time of deep reflection and serious private consideration.
Let us all participate responsibly, respectfully and within the parameters prescribed by the laws of our land.
In concluding these thoughts from Thursday, I want you to know that I have willingly entered the arena for you and our country.
You are, and will, always be the reason.
PNG needs young men with vision and the right political ideology to transform this country.
James Marape's slogan of bringing back PNG is a concept that needs practical politicians who can turn things around.
The biggest problem this country face is corruption and lack of political will to develop this nation.
This country needs leaders who can be voted to parliament and not politicians without any leadership qualities.
Jackson Kiakari has shown leadership during his university days and in the workplace. He is intelligent and we could support him.
However, people needed to be educated to vote for the right person and this is one of the major problems we face now.
I wish Jackson Kiakari all the best.
Posted by: Philip Kai Morre | 07 March 2021 at 05:42 PM
Jackson Kiakari sharpened his leadership teeth as a high school student leader in Port Moresby schools in the 1990's. Church Sunday school and youth keyboard music and guitar playing were his childhood learning grounds.
He ramped his debating and thought skills at the University of Technology in Lae, Morobe Province in which his colleagues elected him to be their 2008/2009 National Union of Students President.
Jackson accepted additional responsibilities through his election as Unitech’s SRC President in 2009/2010.
Mr Kiakari successfully graduated with a 4 year bachelor’s degree in Science in Mathematics and Computer Science, coupling that with the revered Vice Chancellor's Leadership & Citizenship Prize on graduation day in April 2010.
Jackson was recruited by Digicel where he worked as their wholesale Interconnect/Roambroker Application Engineer in its Revenue Assurance Section.
Few years later, Jackson joined Telikom PNG Limited in a Team Leader's responsibility in Corporates Sales & Revenue Assurance respectively, winning commendations and accolades in quick succession.
The ANZ Bank was prowling around for meticulous and attention-to-detail financially savvy human capital resources. That is where Jackson ended up five years later, landing a Business Optimization and Technology managerial job.
Jackson keenly watched national and international events unfolding with inordinate amounts of time spent, expressing his citizenship concerns on challenges confronting the country with special emphasis on his Gerehu suburb, his residing spot.
With the passing of Sir Mekere Morauta recently, he knew his time to set his sights at a legislative and decision making role at PNG's National Parliament had arrived. This he, did it with absolute respect, deep conviction, honour and style.
Jackson tendered his resignation from his job at ANZ bank by an email correspondence while on his 2020 Christmas holidays in Wabag with his family.
The campaign is in full swing.
Come May/June, we will know whether his mathematical and political calculations were in order.
Posted by: Corney Korokan Alone | 07 March 2021 at 09:27 AM